The invention relates to a system for feeding originals to be copied onto the copy table of a copying machine and electrostatically holding the originals flat on the copy table.
German allowed patent application DT-AS 21 48 666 discloses a system wherein originals to be copied are held in position electrostatically. In this holding system, an original to be copied is laid upon a horizontally positioned, electrostatically chargeable copy table. After the voltage which establishes the holding field is switched on, the copy table is swung to vertical position, to position the original for the exposure operation. The copy table comprises a dielectric layer beneath which is an interdigitated arrangement of two electrodes across which the potential difference which establishes the holding field is applied. When the original is laid onto the copy table, it must be positioned by hand or else the projection system is adjusted in correspondence to the position of the original. Proceeding in this way, it is, on the average, possible to produce single copies of single originals at a maximum rate of about 200 copies per hour. This low unit productivity is attributable to the time spent in laying and positioning the original on the copy table and in properly positioning the copy table relative to the projection system.